Speak Now
by Story R. R. Stranger
Summary: A songfic set along the lines of Taylor Swift's song. When one of our beloved characters is about to make the biggest mistake of his life, Hermione sets out to stop him.


**S****o, upon rereading this story, I have realized that it is far more enjoyable when read all at once, and not broken up into chapters. So I re-uploaded it. There's only a few things changed inside the story (typos fixed, cheesy-ness removed, etc.), I just felt like making it better. Hope you all think so as well!  
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><p><span>Part One:<span>

_I am not the kind of girl  
>Who should be rudely barging in on a white veil occasion<br>But you are not the kind of boy  
>Who should be marrying the wrong girl<em>

Hermione Granger, her blazing expression appearing to penetrate to the tips of her busy brown hair, Apparated onto the sidewalk. A few Muggles that were walking calmly by the church on the other side of the suburban street jumped at the loud _crack _that followed the spell, but for once in her life, Hermione did not care if her magic was noticed.

She was angry; she was frustrated; she was so full of resentment toward someone who had once been her best friend, that it surprised even her.

"_How _could he do this, the idiot?"

Her voice came out louder than she expected, and a small wren flew out of a nearby bush. Checking herself, the young witch smoothed the skirt on her light-purple dress.

"_Lavender,_" she muttered, more quietly now, "out of all the colors to wear today…"

Hermione looked in either direction before crossing the street, heading for the church. Bells were tolling loudly, letting her know that she was almost late. She pulled a small, thin wand out of her purse.

"_Tempus_." She muttered a spell she herself had invented only several months previously. Small blue numbers appeared above the wand-tip, floating gently in the air, reading 3:20 PM. Hermione looked toward the large double-doors of the sacred building. "Just in time."

As she marched up the steps her fiery anger began to fade, and butterflies erupted in her stomach. A moment later, when she stopped in front of the double oak doors, she hesitated.

"Maybe I shouldn't. Maybe they'll be…_happy _together. Maybe – "

But her one-sided conversation was interrupted when the door opened from the inside and a familiar glasses-clad wizard poked his head out.

"Hermione?"

"Harry!"

Hermione threw her arms around the neck of Harry Potter in greeting.

He stepped completely out and shut the doors behind him.

"What in the name of Merlin are you doing here?"

Hermione's happy expression faded as her eyes narrowed. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

Harry looked uncomfortable. "Well, I – I heard you weren't invited…"

"Oh, so she's spreading it around now, is she?"

Harry sighed and grabbed Hermione by the arm. Pulling her around to the back of the church, away from prying Muggle eyes, he addressed her quietly.

"What're you doing here?" He asked again.

"Stopping him!" She exclaimed. "Harry, you know this isn't right!"

Harry was silent.

"You honestly don't think – " Hermione started.

"No," Harry interrupted. "Of course I don't, Hermione. But he's my best mate – I can't just…"

"Just tell him how utterly _moronic _he's being and how much of a hell his life will be if he goes through with this?" The bushy-haired witch snapped back, glaring.

To her surprise, Harry grinned.

"No. That's your job."

She hit him on the arm.

"I don't care what you do," he said, rubbing his bicep. "It's the truth, Hermione. He might hear me, but ultimately he'll only _listen _to _you. _And I think you know why."

"No, I don't know. Enlighten me Harry," Hermione said with a sarcastic wave of her hand. "Why will only _listen _to me?"

"Because he loves you."

Hermione was silent. She could feel heat creeping up into her cheeks and hoped that it was just the sun.

"I…"

"You know it's true."

"Then why on earth is he marrying that – that _beast_?" Hermione asked with an air of someone clutching at straws.

"If I had to guess," Harry started slowly. "I'd say that it's because he thinks he's got no chance with you."

"No chance?"

Harry nodded.

"And what did you say when he told you all this?"

"Well, as I say, I'm only guessing. We've never had a…a heart-to-heart or anything."

Hermione paused. "Well, what should I do?"

"You're the smart one."

Part Two:

_I sneak in and see your friends  
>And her snotty little family all dressed in pastel<br>And she is yelling at a bridesmaid  
>Somewhere back inside a room<br>Wearing a gown shaped like a pastry _

_This is surely not what you thought it would be…_

After her enlightening, yet still unhelpful conversation with the Best Man, Hermione left Harry and entered the church through the back.

The building was set up as a sanctuary with offices, other storage rooms and closets along hallways on either side, with a back door at the end of the left hall. Why the wedding was to be held in a Muggle church, Hermione still had not worked out, but there were more pressing matters at hand.

As she tip-toed down the hall, her high-heels clicked and echoed loudly on the linoleum floor.

"_Muffliato,_" she murmured, waving her want at the doors on either side. As she passed the first one, her eyes grazed fleetingly over the small window. Peering closer now, she did a double take.

There she was. Lavender Brown, soon to be Mrs. Lavender –

But she could not think that.

As Hermione watched, Lavender turned to a young woman with long dark hair in a pastel-pink dress standing next to her, attempting to curl the bride-to-be's hair with her wand. A chuckle escaped Hermione's lips as she watched Parvati Patil cower in fear as Lavender rounded on her, mouthing words Hermione did not attempt to make out and waving her arms in the air. Hermione had to cover her mouth to quiet her laughter as she watched Lavender attempt to take a step forward and stumble over the large, puffy skirt; the climax of her cupcake-shaped wedding gown.

Hermione shook her head and kept walking. After only a few more moments, she reached an opening in the hall – an entrance to the sanctuary.

The church looked beautiful. The stain-glass windows and walls had been draped with silk curtains in various pastel shades. Each row of seats had a vase of colorful moving flowers at the beginning of it, and living ivy crawled fetchingly over the bare spaces of wall and ceiling. It looked to Hermione like a garden-fairy kind of wedding, and despite her best efforts to repress it, her inner femininity came out all the same. Lavender might not have an eye for flattering dresses, but she could certainly decorate.

But _he _would not like this at all, Hermione thought, as she stood in the same spot, wasting her time as she girlishly admired the decorations. He despised that horrid minty-green color that was splashed here and there, Hermione knew. And pink? With _his _hair?

"_No _Hermione. Don't get distracted. Find a hiding spot."

Hermione spoke quietly to herself as she lifted the _Muffliato _spell in the hall she had just vacated. She slipped behind a large fold in one of the Easter-yellow curtains and peered around the edge in order to get a view of the back of the church without being seen.

They were all there, all of their school friends. Among them was Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom, even Looney – _Luna_ – Lovegood. Hermione saw Harry re-enter the crowd and shot him a dirty look he could not see.

How exceptionally _un_helpful Harry had been; telling her that_ he_ loved her. As though that made anything clear. Still, she hadcome this far – something had to be done. And, though she did not like admitting it to herself, a certain fondness for breaking the rules had come over her in the past several years.

So she waited and watched as the wedding guests took their seats. The right time would come.

_ …I lose myself in a daydream_

_Where I stand and say:_

_Don't say "Yes", run away now_  
><em>I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door<em>  
><em>Don't wait or say a single vow<em>  
><em>You need to hear me out<em>  
><em>And they said, "Speak now"<em>

Part Three:

_Fond gestures are exchanged  
>And the organ starts to play<br>A song that sounds like a death march  
>And I am hiding in the curtains<br>It seems that I was uninvited by your lovely bride-to-be_

She floats down the aisle like a pageant queen  
>But I know you wish it was me<br>You wish it was me  
>Don't you?<p>

Hermione watched as her friends talked and laughed with each other. None of them seemed to care about what was about to happen. They did not appear troubled. Hermione was boiling; she wanted to scream at them all. Why must _everything _be up to her?

A familiar red-headed individual appeared in the back of the church: Ginny Weasley, wearing a silky pink dress that clashed terribly with her flaming hair. Hermione smiled at the look of disgust on her face as she surveyed the building. She shook her head and moved to stand next to Harry. She whispered something in his ear and pointed in Hermione's direction.

The pedantic young witch pulled her bushy head further behind the curtain. She was sure that Ginny wouldn't give her away, but thought it was better to be more circumspect.

"What am I going to do?" Hermione muttered, passing her hands over her face, as though it would push away a veil of fear and confusion. It did nothing. She felt more scared and confused than ever. Her head shot up as organ music started.

She chanced a peek from behind the curtain and saw a family she knew quite well process up the aisle and take their seats. Hermione saw the familiar red-haired family take their seats in the front row on the left side. Following them was a middle-aged couple and small girl all dressed in the familiar pastel shades that decorated the church. They took a seat on the opposite side and kept glancing back eagerly, awaiting the rest of the procession.

Next it was bridesmaids and groomsmen. Hermione's heart was pounding madly in her chest. She watched the group only vaguely until the best man and maid of honor came down, arm-in-arm. Harry had a bright, fake smile plastered on his face, and Parvati Patil's eyes looked slightly red, as though she had been crying. Hermione could have sworn that Harry's eyes slid in the direction of her curtain as they passed.

The butterflies in Hermione's stomach began fluttering into overdrive; she made a mental note to find a spell that calmed the nerves as soon as this was all over. Everyone's attention was turned toward the back of the church, waiting for the bride's entrance. But Hermione looked toward the front, where she knew he would appear.

And there he was.

Ron Weasley walked out slowly from the right, his hair as red and his face as freckled as it had always been. He was dressed in a black tuxedo jacket and slacks with a tie accented with pastel pink.

Hermione thought she may throw up, scream or hit him with _Avada Kadavra _right then and there.

Instead, she stayed still and watched his expression as Lavender Brown floated down the aisle toward her fiancé, beaming haughtily. His expression did not change; he remained solemn.

"He should be smiling. He doesn't look happy at all. If it were me, he would be smiling."

Hardly processing what she was murmuring to herself, Hermione turned her attention back on Ron. Lavender joined him at the altar and the minister spoke.

"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of God and these witnesses, to join Lavender Brown and Ronald Weasley in holy matrimony."

Hermione could not help it; a tear slid down her cheek.

She watched quietly as the ceremony continued and songs were played. She was numb and unfeeling. Or maybe she was feeling everything at one time, which overloaded her emotions. Maybe Ron had been right; "One person couldn't feel all that at once. They'd explode." Hermione smiled at the memory; she certainly felt liable to explode at that moment. One of her many jumbled thoughts seemed to fall back into the right place. One of the knots in her stomach became undone.

She knew what she was going to do.

_Don't say "Yes", run away now  
>I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door<br>Don't wait or say a single vow  
>You need to hear me out<br>And they said, "Speak now"_

Part Four:

_I hear the preacher say, "Speak now or forever hold your peace"  
>There's the silence, there's my last chance<br>I stand up with shaky hands, all eyes on me  
>Horrified looks from everyone in the room<br>But I'm only looking at you_

Her spot behind the curtain was becoming stuffy. Sweat trickled down the back of her neck. The air seemed heavy and humid as Hermione watched her best friend marry a girl who was completely wrong for him.

She wrung her hands nervously. It had to be any second now.

For the millionth time that afternoon, Hermione thought about why she was there. Why she was about to do what she was about to do.

He was her friend. She had always been there for him during their school years. She would be there for him today.

But something in her heart said, in a voice that sounded like Harry Potter, "That's not the only reason you're here."

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"_Yes _it is."

It was. They were friends, and friends were all they were ever going to be, which was fine with her. She cared deeply for Ron – in a friend way.

She peered around the curtain and saw Ron and Lavender facing each other, her hands clutching his. Hermione clenched her fists.

The voice in her heart said in a chastising manner, "That doesn't seem like a 'friend way' to me."

Hermione's emotion-clogged, confused brain did not have time to make a snappy reply, for at that moment, she heard the words that she had been waiting to hear.

"…Into this holy estate these two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together – let them speak now or forever hold their peace."

Hermione pushed back the curtain and stepped into view.

Part Five:

"I," she began loudly, her voice shaking as much as her hands. "Am not the kind of girl who should be rudely barging in on a – a _white veil_ occasion. And I object to this – this union."

Everyone had turned in their seats to look at her. Hermione did not pay them any attention; her eyes were fixed on Ron's face, which had gone white with surprise as he stared back at her.

"But you," she lifted a hand and pointed at Ron. The action seemed to steady her and the shaking stopped. Her voice grew stronger. "You are _not _the kind of boy who should be marrying the… the wrong girl."

She did not spare Lavender even a cursory glance, but smiled slightly when she heard a shriek of outrage that had to have come from the bride.

"So don't say yes, or 'I do', or anything, Ronald Weasley, or I will never forgive you."

A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth.

"I love you, Ron."

The almost-smile had faded from Ron's face and had been replaced with an emotion she could not read.

For five seconds, silence reigned as Ron and Hermione stared at one another.

Then the whispering began, and Hermione, feeling as though she had said what she needed to say, turned around and left. It was up to him now.

Part Six:

"Hermione!"

Someone was calling her from behind, but she did not slacken her pace. She was not entirely sure she had done the right thing –there was probably chaos in the cathedral. She needed to get away from there.

"Hermione, stop."

She heard the footsteps move faster, and then a hand on her shoulder.

"Hermione."

She closed her eyes, took a breath, and turned.

And as she did so, she felt someone press their lips gently against hers and then pull away.

Opening her eyes, she saw a red-faced Ron standing next to her, wearing a sheepish expression.

"What was that for?" Hermione asked when she felt able to speak again.

"For what you said. What you did for – for me." Ron averted his gaze. "I'm sorry."

She wanted to snap back with, "You should be! Haven't you realized what kind of hell you've put me through?" But then she recognized that he did not. Because, if he had understood how terrible she had felt since the announcement of the engagement, she was sure that he would never have agreed to it in the first place.

So instead, she asked, "Why?"

Ron, who had obviously been expecting a scolding, looked up.

"It's somewhat of a long story…"

"I'd like to hear it."

Ron smiled; the first real smile Hermione could remember him giving her in what seemed like ages. He ripped off his tie and slipped out of his tuxedo jacket; leaving them in a crumpled heap on the floor.

"Let's get out of here," he said, putting his arm around Hermione's waist and walking with her toward the back door.

_So, don't say "Yes", run away now  
>I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door<br>Don't wait or say a single vow  
>You need to hear me out<br>And they said, "Speak now"  
>And you'll say "Let's run away now<br>I'll meet you when I'm out of my tux at the back door  
>Baby, I didn't say my vows<br>So glad you were around  
>When they said, 'Speak now' "<em>

They walked together, just for the sake of feeling one another's long-forgotten closeness, around to the front of the building.

Ron looked up at the picturesque building, repulsion on his face.

"I can't believe what I was about to do. I'm so glad you were there, Hermione."

Hermione smiled.

"I've told you once before; you're a complete arse, Ronald Weasley."

And she grasped his hand, and Disapperated.

_Fin._


End file.
